The Legend of Zelda: Master of Puppets
by Skullkai
Summary: In the LoZ world, an elf named Link who starts out on a hunting expedition but then takes a turn towards a big mystery. With the help of the spirits possessing his puppets, Link sets out to uncover the secret of the Tale of the Princess and stop evil from taking over Hyrule. (Story is an AU version of the original Legend of Zelda minus the other LoZ games)
1. Chapter 1: The Puppeteer

The Legend of Zelda: Master of Puppets

(Sorry everyone for the length and backstory in this chapter but come on, we gotta start somewhere)

Chapter 1:

The Puppeteer

Link woke up to another day in the market. Mothers buying food, men buying arrows, and occasionally, kids buying puppets from Link's family's shop. It was very busy in the market today. But of course, it was always busy on the first day of the Great Hunt.

The Great Hunt is a huge hunting expedition hosted by the men of Hyrule. It was an annual hunt that took place on the first week of June. Today was the beginning of the 17th annual Great Hunt, and the first time Link could participate. The first Great Hunt was the year Link was born. It took place because of the red wolves' attacks on villages and markets. The red wolves were a pack of about 47 wolves that were always a danger to the villages of Hyrule. Thanks to the first Great Hunt, the 47 wolves were down to 6, based on the amount of wolf bodies brought back. "Nobody's ever seen a red wolf since," Link's mother would say.

You had to be 17 or older to participate in the Great Hunt. Link had been waiting for when he was eligible for the Great Hunt. He had been training since he was 8 years old. He was a master archer, a clever swordsman, and was excellent on horseback. Speaking of horses, Link was going to the back of the store to find his horse, Epona.

Link opened the back door and was greeted by an eager Epona. Link had a little stable set up behind the shop. Link got Epona for his 12th birthday. That was one of his happiest memories of his parents.

"Hey, girl," said Link. "Today's the big day! The 17th Great Hunt! This is what we've been training for! I'll come get you after I purchase some arrows, okay?"

Link got a neigh of approval from Epona. He gave Epona an apple and went back into his store. Link quickly put on his hunting clothes and hat, grabbed his bag of coins, and exited his store, hoping that the arrows weren't sold out yet.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the little elf that could," said Gerfin, the archery store owner. "Today's the big day, right Link?"

"Yeah," replied Link. "I just can't wait to get out there."

"You should probably stick with Reggie over there," said Gerfin, pointing over to a tall, bearded man that was probably in his mid-30s. "Hunters seem to have the best luck around him."

"My crew and I will be happy to take this bugger with us."

Link turned around to see Reggie standing right behind him.

"Sounds good," said Link.

"You got a ride, kid?" said Reggie.

"Yes, and my name is Link," replied Link.

"Ok, Link. I have some extra arrows with me, so if you want to come with us, we're leaving now," said Reggie. "Grab your horse and meet us just outside of Taggertine Forest."

"Ok," said Link.

Link started running back towards his shop. He quickly put up the "We're Closed" sign and ran upstairs to get his things. Link grabbed food, water, and a couple puppets. The puppets always seemed to have some sort of magic to them. Link ran out back of his shop. Link hopped on Epona and rode down the alleyway behind the shops. Link rushed on Epona towards Taggertine Forest.

"You got here just in time, kid," said Reggie. "We were about to go in."

"Ok," said Link.

Reggie's hunting team was composed of about 25 men in their late 20s and early 30s. Reggie and his team started moving forward into the forest. Link just stayed where he was.

"You comin', kid?" asked Reggie.

"Yeah," replied Link,"of course I am."

Link gestured Epona towards the forest. Link took a deep breath right as he entered Taggertine Forest.


	2. Chapter 2: The Wolf

**The Legend of Zelda: Master of Puppets**

(Hello, readers! Just so you know, there is a certain path I want this story to take but if you guys have any little subplots you want in the story or something, just comment on this chapter or other chapters and tell me! Thanks, and I hope you enjoy Chapter 2!)

 **Chapter 2:**

 **The Wolf**

"I got one!" said Flint.

10 minutes into the Hunt and already, someone bagged a buck. The animals should know better than to be this close to edge at this time, thought Link.

"Nice," said Reggie, "He's got to be worth 100 coins, eh?"

"Maybe even 150!" said Flint.

"Good job," said Link.

Everyone stopped and stared at Link.

"What's this scrawny li'l elf doin' 'ere?" asked Sheldon.

"Everybody, this is Link" replied Reggie, "and he's gonna be hunting with us today."

"What kind of a name is Link?" asked Candrin.

"I could ask you the same thing, Candrin," replied Reggie, "Come on. The animals will probably be no more than an 8 minute trek this way. Let's go."

Reggie started heading further into the forest, with everyone else following. Link started following them but then he saw something.

"What the…," said Link.

Hiding in some foliage was a wolf with maroon-colored fur and yellow eyes. Link knew exactly what it was. A red wolf! thought Link. The wolf, noticing that Link saw him, scampered away. Link followed slowly and quietly.

The wolf had led Link to what looked like the remains of a fortress. What is this? thought Link. There were stone walls surrounding a stone castle. The fortress was worn with decay and erosion. Link rode through an entrance that looked like it hadn't been walked through in a century. He walked along a path that was covered with grass and bushes. Link rode into the castle to see skeletons of fallen knights and soldiers. At one end of the castle, there was a closed door. In this door however, was a light.

"Hello?" asked Link.

Link hopped off Epona and walked over to the door. Here goes, thought Link. Link turned the knob and opened the door.


	3. Chapter 3: The Tale of the Princess

**The Legend of Zelda: Master of Puppets**

(I'm planning to post a new chapter every week. Is that cool? So far I've been grinding these things out and making about 1 chapter every 15 minutes and I think I'll stop making so many so fast. My plan is to post a new chapter every Saturday but if you guys want new chapters more often, I could post every Wednesday and Saturday. Anyways, enjoy this riveting chapter of the story.)

 **Chapter 3:**

 **The Tale of the Princess**

Wow, though Link.

Link had found many things inside the room. On the back wall, there was huge tapestry with a story written on it. On the ground was a carpet depicting the battle between the evil ancient king Ganondorf and Link the Hero, the guy that Link here was named after. There were torches on the walls that were still burning after 102 years.

"This was Princess Zelda's castle," said Link to himself. "This is where the battle between the evil king and the hero took place."

Link wondered why this place was abandoned, because the evil king was defeated in the great battle. Link walked over to the tapestry and started to read it.

" _Once upon a time, in the kingdom of Hyrule, there was a princess, Princess Zelda, was wandering the castle one day when an evil creature kidnapped her. This evil creature was Ganondorf, son of Hadridorf, the king of Katchin, the kingdom south of Hyrule. The king of Hyrule sent his best soldiers to save his daughter but none of them succeeded. Hadridorf didn't like how the king sent soldiers to attack his castle so he retaliated, thus starting the War of Kingdoms. A stable boy of Hyrule Castle wanted to try and save the princess. After the Battle of Longhaven, the stable boy, named Link, applied to be a Hyrulian soldier, but the king declined his application, saying his duty was to tend to the stables. But that didn't stop young Link. One night, Link broke into the king's quarters, stole his weapons, and set off on an expedition to rescue the princess._

" _Link ended up fighting in the Battle of Gornican, the Battle of Yernip, and the Battle of Quentril. Since Link had stolen from the king, he couldn't fight alongside the Hyrulian soldiers but instead fought on his own. When the Battle of Quentril was coming to an end, Link rode off and ended up being able to sneak inside the Fortress of Katchin, where the princess was being kept. Once Link had entered the dungeon where Princess Zelda was being held, he found the prince of Katchin, Ganondorf. To save the princess, Link had to unleash the power of the king's master sword, the release of spirits to attack the enemy. After Ganondorf was slain, Link escaped the Fortress of Katchin with Princess Zelda and brought her back to Hyrule. The Battle of the Katchin Dungeon was the end of the War of Kingdoms. Hyrule had won, thanks to the princess's rescuer, Link the Hero."_

I've heard this story many times, thought Link.

Link exited the room and started to climb the flight of stairs. He found many rooms up there, including the ancient king of Hyrule's room. Inside, Link found the master sword, the sword used by Link the Hero during the War of Kingdoms. Link grabbed the sword to see how it felt.

"Drop the sword."

Link turned around to see Reggie and the group of hunters.

"I said drop the sword," said Reggie.


	4. Chapter 4: The Secret

The Legend of Zelda: Master of Puppets

(Do you guys like these cliffhanger endings to each chapter? Comment to tell me. I'm going to post once a week now on a weekday although I don't know if I'll post on exactly the same weekday each week. Anyways, enjoy the chapter)

 **Chapter 4:**

 **The Secret**

"Drop the sword!" yelled Reggie.

"Why? What will you do if I don't?" said Link.

"I'll have no choice but to kill you. You shouldn't have strayed from the group," replied Reggie.

"How did you find me?" asked Link.

"Simple. We realized you weren't there anymore and we were close to the castle so we checked here first. It was a good idea. Now drop the sword!" said Reggie.

"No!" yelled Link.

Instantly after Link yelled, the master sword started to glow. Then a blast of air flew out of the sword and balls of fog appeared. One of these balls of fog went straight to the suit of armor in the room. The suit of armor came to life. The rest of the balls flew into Link's backpack. Out of the backpack flew the puppets Link brought when he first set off on the Great Hunt. There was a tiger, a lion, a zebra, a polar bear, and a warrior.

"Great hero!" said Tiger. "We are the spirits of the master sword! We will fend off these people while you escape!"

"Run, great hero!" said the suit of armor (Knight). "We will protect you!"

Reggie and the hunters stood in awe of the spirits possessing the puppets and the suit of armor. Link dashed towards the door, almost stopped by Candrin, but the tiger flew into Candrin's face, causing him to knock over an stopping him from slicing Link.

Link ran out of the castle, sword still in hand, and hopped on Epona. He started riding off and he didn't stop until he found a cottage in the forest. Link opened the door and saw that the cottage looked abandoned. He decided to wait there for a while.

10 minutes later, the puppets appeared right next to Link.

"What the heck?!" said Link. "Who are you guys? How did you get here? Wait, where's the knight?"


	5. Chapter 5: The Spirits

The Legend of Zelda: Master of Puppets

(Sorry for another expositional chapter. Leave a comment if you like this story. If you don't, tell me what would make you like this story, like, if I added something. Anyways, enjoy the chapter)

 **Chapter 5:**

 **The Spirits**

"Ok," said Tiger. "we appeared here because of the sword."

"What?" asked Link.

"We are the spirits of the master sword," said Zebra. "We shall always be able to teleport to the sword's location."

"Wait, you guys are the spirits of the master sword?" asked Link. "But you're puppets."

"We possessed puppets," said Warrior, "because we can't do anything unless we possess and object or dead creature. We can't possess the living, though."

"Okay, so you answered all but one of my questions," said Link. "Where is the knight?"

"You need to know that we can be killed," said Polar Bear. "Well, we are kinda already dead but we can disappear from this world."

"What causes you to disappear from the world?" asked Link.

"A brutal destruction of the things we possessed," answered Lion. "Knight was beaten to 'death' by the weapons of those Katchins."

"Katchins?" said Link. "What do you mean by Katchins?"

"You know exactly what I mean," replied Lion. "Those people are the only living people still part of the kingdom of Katchin."

"Are you telling me that those people are the descendants of Ganondorf's subjects?!" asked Link.

"Yes," replied Tiger. "They are. You see, after the War of the Kingdoms ended and Katchin was in ruins, a large group of villagers escaped and hid out in the woods in cottages just like this one. They raised families and everything. Then the descendants of the villagers decided to join the kingdom of Hyrule. All was well until the Great Hunt started up. These descendants would go out in groups go to the ancient Hyrule castle."

"Then why did they invite me to come with them?" asked Link.

"Well, they now assume that you're a descendant of the Katchins," replied Lion.


	6. Chapter 6: The Katchins

The Legend of Zelda: Master of Puppets

(Leave a comment on which puppet you want killed off next: Lion, Tiger, or Polar Bear?)

 **Chapter 6:**

 **The Katchins**

"What?!" exclaimed Link.

""Well, are you a descendant of the Katchins?" asked Zebra.

"No! Of course no!" replied Link.

"I'm not so sure," said Lion.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

"The Katchins are at the door!" said Warrior. "Help me hold them back!"

Polar Bear and Warrior went over to keep the door closed while Tiger, Lion, and Zebra tried to explain more to Link.

"You are a Katchin! Why can't you see that?" said Tiger.

"No! It can't be! I'm Hyrulian! It's not true!" said Link.

"Come on! We don't have time for this! We have to escape!" said Lion.

"No! I'll stay and fight! You guys escape!" said Link.

"Gah!" exclaimed Warrior.

The door fell down after the Katchins broke it down. It fell and crushed Warrior.

"No! Warrior!" said Polar Bear.

"Go, guys! Hurry!" said Zebra.

"I won't leave!" said Link.

"Then we can't either!" said Lion.

The Katchins sliced at Polar Bear, barely missing him.

"Come with us and leave the sword if you want to live, Link!" said Reggie.

"Yeah, we already killed yer horse!" added Candrin.

No, thought Link. Epona can't really be dead. She's...she's...no. CANDRIN!

"AAAHHH!" yelled Link, swinging the master sword at Candrin.

"Protect Link!" said Lion.

Link sliced again at Candrin, who only blocked it with his wooden bow. Link cut right through it.

"Holy balls!" exclaimed Candrin.

Reggie swung at Link but Link blocked it at the last second. Link started slicing at Reggie while Candrin got ready to stab Link. Zebra jumped in the way to save Link.

"Ahh!" said Zebra.

"NO!" said Tiger.

Zebra was stabbed through the center of his puppet self. Link lunged at Candrin, stabbing him through the stomach. Flint retaliated by slicing Link's chest.

"Gah!" said Link.

"Not this time!" said Tiger.

Tiger flew right into Flint's face, sending him to the ground outside the door. Tiger then choked him until he died. Tiger flew back in to see Link sprawled across the ground, wincing and groaning in pain. Lion and Polar Bear were flying around cutting off the Katchins' blades from hitting Link.

"Run!" said Lion.

Link grabbed the master sword and jumped out a window. He ran as far away from the cottage as he could before he collapsed in pain.


End file.
